A mother of twins has spoken of how her world fell apart when one of her sons was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.

Chantelle O'Connor, and her husband Carl, first noticed something wasn't right with their son James around Christmas 2015 when he became sensitive to light and sound. He was then diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2016.

The 29-year-old from Sleaford said her son had to undergo surgery and a over a year of chemotherapy.

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"He was only a toddler but he became frustrated and couldn't say what was wrong with him - but that was because he was unwell," Chantelle added.

"We didn't want to know the size of the tumour as we thought we would dwell on it too much.

"Doctors managed to remove all of the tumour in the surgery. It was a grade three anaplastic ependymoma tumour and it's got quite a high recurrence rate - so the fact they removed it all was great.

"He then started 56 weeks of Chemotherapy and finished in March this year."

James and Joshua O'Connor two months before the diagnosis

Chantelle said the three-year-old will need to have scans every three months for the next five years and he will probably need to have scans for the rest of his life.

She added that the bond between the two twins has helped the family get through the battle.

"Your whole world falls apart.

"He has a twin brother so it was hard switching between the two of them.

"As a result of the surgery James suffered posterior fossa syndrome - so he couldn't walk or talk and had to learn it all again. His twin Joshua helped with that a million per cent in that he encourages James to do things and he has picked up a lot quicker."

She added that James had to travel to Nottingham every other week for his chemotherapy and his brother would go with him too.

"Even now it gets me emotional thinking about the bond between the two - it's overwhelming.

James and Joshua in Hospital together

"They have not left each others sides. Joshua has been through it as much as James, he came to every hospital appointment - I am very proud.

"And the strength and courage we have seen in James has given us the strength that we needed to go forward.

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“We are so unbelievably proud of our two boys. They have both shown so much strength, courage and determination. Together, we will continue to fight this.”

The family are now backing a bid for campaign HeadSmart to win an award from the National Lottery. The Brain Tumour Charity is helping to raise awareness of symptoms through HeadSmart's campaign.

If it wins the award it will receive £5,000.

Mrs O'Connor added: "There are so many symptoms and we want people to be made aware of them - it's not always a brain tumour but it's good to have awareness and the sooner you catch it the better."

James and Joshua with their parents

Her husband added: "Early diagnosis is the best way of achieving removal of the whole tumour, or most of it, and giving children the greatest chance.

"We’re honoured our video is being used to spearhead HeadSmart and it deserves an NLA award - it’s such a brilliant campaign.

“And we want to help spare other families the nightmare we’ve been through.”

Sarah Lindsell, the Brain Tumour Charity’s chief executive, said: “We are very grateful to Chantelle and Carl for sharing James’ and Joshua’s touching story about their special bond to help us raise awareness.

“It is devastating to be told that your child has a brain tumour. And, although, brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, there has been little improvement in survival rates over the last 40 years.

Symptoms that people should look out for in relation to brain tumours

“As we receive no government money and rely 100 per cent on voluntary donations, fundraising and gifts in wills, it’s only through the efforts of wonderful families like the O’Connors that we can continue to raise awareness and funds for vital research to make a real difference in defeating this cruel disease.”